Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Abby goes silent, and I feel for her. I hate how oblivious Tarni can be sometimes. She has a habit of not filtering her thoughts before allowing them to tumble out like word vomit. Clearly Abby likes Liam, otherwise, she wouldn’t have wasted her summer with him. She’s hurting over his dismissal, and hearing how carelessly Tarni shrugs it off as though she’d never be good enough to date someone like Liam must have stung.
Cora laughs, clearly oblivious to Abby’s silence as well. “Who knows. From what I heard, Shannan offered to have an orgy with Noah and the whole cheer squad. Seems Liam is old news now.”
“Ugh,” I groan in disgust before immediately zipping my lips and wishing I hadn’t said that out loud. But I couldn’t help myself. The idea of Noah lowering his standards to waste his time with girls like Shannan is nothing but an insult to me. How could he want that over everything we had together?
“You’re such a prude, Zo. Sex is fun,” Tarni laughs, misreading the reasons for my disgust. “When are you going to get over it and just do it? You know, nearly half of the football team have been trying to screw you since the start of the summer. Just pick one and get it over and done with. It doesn’t even hurt that much.”
Cora laughs. “She’s probably holding out for Noah, hoping he’ll see the light and start worshiping at her feet again.”
I clench my jaw, not liking this topic at all. “I’m not holding out for Noah. I just don’t want to screw the first guy who smiles at me.”
“Well, you should,” Tarni says. “Because just like Liam, Noah isn’t going to change, especially not for a good girl like you. He’s down with the easy girls who’ll give him what he wants without making him work for it.”
“You mean girls like you?” I question, my hands shaking.
“Exactly.”
“Speaking of Noah,” Abby chimes in, her tone hitching as though she’s got the gossip of the century. “I heard something about him today.”
“Ooh yeah,” Tarni says, hanging off Abby’s every word. “What is it?”
“So, apparently he used to have a little brother, Landon or Logan . . . something like that, and I don’t know . . . five or so years ago, Noah killed him, and that’s why he’s so fucked up.”
I suck in a horrified gasp. “Who the hell told you that?” I demand, anger rolling off me, not only for the disrespect of talking about Linc like that but for spreading such a horrendous rumor. When Noah hears what they’re saying, it will tear him to pieces. “That’s not even a little close to what happened.”
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” Abby says as hot, rage-filled tears spring to my eyes. “That’s just the rumor that’s going around. Heard it from some guy in the school parking lot.”
Throwing myself off my bed, I pace the length of my room, unable to find control. “His name wasn’t Landon or Logan. It was Lincoln, Lincoln Ryan, and he was the sweetest boy I ever met. He was hit by a drunk driver three years ago, and it destroyed his family and mine. Noah adored his little brother and still hasn’t come to terms with his death. So do yourselves a favor and don’t even mention his name. Shit,” I huff, needing to take a breath. “How could you be so cold as to say such a thing?”
“Jesus Christ, Zoey,” Tarni says. “Lay off. It’s not like she was suggesting Noah did it, just telling us the rumor she heard today.”
I shake my head, unable to believe that Tarni is defending Abby right now, especially considering she was there to see the way Linc’s death crushed me. She saw the devastation tear through me and experienced it secondhand. She’d even met Linc a handful of times, and now she’s just going to pretend like she doesn’t even remember his name?
Fuck. I’ve never been so upset and angry.
Without another word, I end the call, throw my phone on my bed, and get back to pacing. When a knock sounds at my door, I glance up just in time to see Mom poke her head through the opening door. “Everything alright in here?”
“Yes. No,” I spit. “I don’t know.”
Mom walks right in and takes my shoulders, forcing me to stop and meet her eyes. “What’s going on my sweet girl?”
“It’s only been one day, and the rumor mill is already starting to spin.”
“About you and Noah?” Mom questions, sadness in her eyes.
“Well, yes,” I say with a heavy sigh. “But that’s not what this is all about.”
“What’s going on?”
Letting out a breath, I collapse onto the edge of my bed and lower my gaze to my hands, Abby’s words leaving a sharp sting deep in my chest. “Apparently people are starting to put their own theories together about Linc, and the things they’re saying . . . it’s horrible, Mom.”